Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!!! We have so much to be thankful for this year, and we are certainly grateful for each of you=).
So, we have experienced our first big holiday overseas and we survived! Isaac and I are both attached to our family holiday traditions, so it was hard being away from those we love the most this Thanksgiving. Still, we had a very lovely time celebrating with a group of our coworkers- interestingly enough, in the same villa complex where I lived many years ago. Our dinner was amazing, and we ate until we thought we would pop! I was in charge of the green bean casserole, which was a first for me, and it turned out perfectly (can't beat the classics!). Unfortunately, I had some problems with my pumpkin bars and ended up with mostly warm batter... oops! I did redeem myself this weekend, and made a yummy batch that I passed out to my coworkers today=).


We are thankful when these two are not fighting... =) This is the first time we have ever seen them snuggle.


I recently introduced my students to the non-fiction writing genre, and we studied the life cycle of a pumpkin. One of the "after harvest" uses of pumpkin is human consumption, so we made pumpkin bars last Thursday. Yum!



On Friday we went to our first (and hopefully not last) shrimp boil! What fun!!! It was hosted by one of Isaac's basketball friends, Nick, and his sister, Brittany. Their villa was amazing, with a big, beautiful yard, and we had a great time relaxing outside. Brittany's boyfriend, Cass, comes from Louisiana, and he was in charge of the shrimp. Boy, does he know how to cook! Dozens of pounds of shrimp were boiled in a massive pot with spices, garlic, onion, potato, sausage and corn on the cob... mmm=). Once the shrimp were pink and full of flavor, the massive pot was strained, all the contents were slung right onto the table, and it was time to dig in!




Isaac digging in =)

Poor little guy! It was kind of tough looking at the whole shrimp, but we got pretty efficient at removing the shell and gobbling it down.

Dan, Laura, and Nick ... haha... Dan REALLY likes that shrimp!

Teryl and I getting our hands dirty

Brittany and I began talking and realized that we used to play together at our mutual friend's house when I was in Dubai in '89. What are the odds?! We had a nice time reminiscing=).


The aftermath




On Saturday I went to Karama with a group of the girls to go shopping. Karama is home to Dubai's infamous "copy bags" and "copy watches," amongst countless other trinkets. Isaac and I have already made a pretty big dent in our holiday shopping and are trying not to spend until our next paycheck, so I brought my camera along as a distraction. I learned that I much prefer shopping when I have money to make purchases, but I still had a lot of fun=).








This store has a hidden door in the wall, so shoppers can sneak upstairs to see all of the "copy bags"





On Saturday evening, Dan and Ashley came over to help us decorate our apartment for Christmas. We had a lot of fun making snowflakes, hanging tinsel, and putting the ornaments on the tree. Bella even got in on the action... =)



These pictures reminded me of this classic shot... what a cute little pup Bella was!!!


Miller kept chasing the reflection of the Christmas lights



Dan , the snowflake elf!


Ashley and Isaac hanging the ornaments



Our Christmas tree =)

They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Dragon Mart!

Well, we had a relatively uneventful weekend. Our immune systems got a good work out, as we both came down with the achy, sore-throat flu last week... ick! Isaac only got a 24-hour version, but I had to leave school early on Wednesday and was in bed until Saturday morning. When we woke up, this is the scene we were met with...


Weird weather in Dubai these days! First rain, now we appear to be living in some low-lying clouds. The city was engulfed by a dense fog all morning. When we first woke up we couldn't even see the buildings next door to us!


Eventually the fog began to lift...


The building next door appeared... but that was about it


Silly Miller wants to go outside to play in the clouds!






Bella has become quite the little "scruffoluphagus" and we finally got a grooming appointment scheduled- which is why I drug myself out of bed on Saturday.

Say goodbye to your chops, Bella!

The groomer was clear out in International City (30-40 minutes away), so it was quite a trip! International City is a rather new area of Dubai (what area isn't?!), and is home to a sprawling 1.2km-long shopping center called Dragon Mart. Dragon Mart is a massive trade center, carrying products from China. The building was constructed in a serpentine shape, topped off with spikes on the roof to mimic its namesake. One can find just about anything known to man at Dragon Mart... well, as long as it was "Made in China." Auto parts, knives, cheap jewelry, toys, lawn mowers, suitcases, kitchen gadgets... we could only spend about 15 minutes in the stale air, surrounded by the grimy, cheap merchandise before we had to leave.

Dragon Mart

The Chinese lanterns were a nice touch, but not nearly enough!


It was nice to see that Dragon Mart had a recycling center (the first we have seen in Dubai)... though it was a bit disheartening that it was the only center for a 1.2km building!


After leaving Dragon Mart, we decided to try and find Festival City to go shopping at IKEA and ACE. Success! How good it feels to sort-of know where we are going in this ever-changing city=). We purchased the rest of our dining room chairs, as well as a plant for our bedroom... not too exciting, but will help us put the finishing touches on our home. IKEA had quite a few Christmas decorations on display, so we began feeling quite festive. We decided not to purchase any decorations at IKEA, with the hopes that ACE would have a better selection. Luckily, we were right! ACE had a huge Christmas section, the carols were blaring over the loudspeakers, and we were in absolute heaven! We had previously decided not to decorate our place in Dubai, and just to wait until we got back to the states. But, once we were surrounded by tinsel, lights, and inflatable Santa's, we just couldn't resist! We decided to buy a tree... a very nice looking, re-usable evergreen=). As we searched for more decor we came across beautiful aqua and chocolate brown Christmas ornaments, and decided to try something new this year. We must have looked so dumb rushing around the holiday aisles, squealing whenever we found something we liked. As we drove back to pick up Bella we couldn't resist the urge to listen to a few Christmas carols. I know we are ridiculously early this year, but we justified our jump start because of our short holiday break.

Bella definitely received a haircut... complete with shaved, Snoopy ears! She looks a little goofy, but her hair had become such a stinky nuisance, that we really didn't care all that much about her appearance. Bella seems very pleased with her new "do" and is extra wiggly!Bella loving snuggle time=) We are much more eager to snuggle with her now that all the hair is gone!

After we got home we couldn't resist the urge to set up our tree. It looks great in the corner of our living room. We did decide not to decorate the tree until AFTER Thanksgiving =). Can't wait to celebrate the holidays with you all!!!

Desert Safari

What does one do when they are home sick and trying to stay awake for a few hours so they will sleep at night? Why, reminisce back to times when they weren't sick and then post a blog about it! =)

Last Sunday we went on a desert safari with our good friends, Dan and Ashley. What a fantastic event! Our driver, Hamdan, picked us up from our apartment and then took us out into the desert towards Hatta and Oman. We first stopped at a small Bedouin camp to see the camels they were raising. They had a brand new baby that was so adorable! We then met up with the other desert safari participants, and our drivers took some time to let the air out of the car tires for our dune bashing. The dune bashing was incredible! Far better than any roller coaster or thrill ride we have ever experienced, and well worth the slight waves of nausea=). Luckily for us, Hamdan was the leader of the convoy, so we had unobstructed views of the red sand desert and we were the first group to "test" each of the dunes. We headed out over the bumpy terrain in the late afternoon, and the sun was just beginning to lower. We were having a great time weaving in, out, over, and around the dunes. Then Hamdan tells us "We are just warming up!" All of a sudden we come upon massive, spiraling dunes, and Hamdan gunned the engine. We were flying through a sea of red waves, fishtailing along the crests, and skidding sideways down the dune faces, with showers of sand spraying over the car. Wow! Terrifying, yet so much fun... and, quite a unique way to see the desert. We stopped along some of the large dunes to watch the sunset, and Dan, Ashley, and Isaac couldn't resist the urge to fling themselves down the dunes, leaping off of "ramps" and rolling around (I opted to take pictures of them=) ). After a lovely sunset, we all piled back into the vehicles, spun through a few more dunes, and then headed into flatter desert terrain to the camp. The camp was a big open space, surrounded by small tents that housed a henna artist, dressing room, food, beverages, and seating. In the center of the camp there was a large stage covered in Persian rugs, surrounded by tables and shisha pillows for seating. We grabbed a great table, and then began to look around. The food stands were serving shwaramas and falafels for appetizers- yum! Bakers were making fresh, bubbling Lebanese bread in an authentic stone oven, so we were able to eat it while it was still warm... heavenly! Ashley and I headed straight for the henna artist, who created designs on our hands in literally less than 30 seconds! It was hard not to look stupid as we walked around with our hands extended to avoid smearing the wet henna! We then met up with the boys for some shisha. Shisha pipes are synonymous with hookahs, and people use them to smoke flavored tobacco. Shisha is huge around Dubai, and you regularly detect their sweet smell on the breeze. I have never smoked a thing in my life, but figured I would give it a shot, since it was a "cultural experience." When in Rome... All in all, it was not bad, but I did have a sore throat the next day=(. I don't mind being a wimp though, I love my lungs and would like to keep them as healthy as possible=). After the shisha, we headed over to try on some traditional Arab clothing at one of the tents. Isaac donned an Emirate dish dash and I covered myself in a conservative abaya, complete with head and face cover. We took some fun pictures, and even added a Santa hat to the mix, which the locals found quite funny. Next we headed just outside of the camp walls for a camel ride. They are such elegant and graceful creatures, but I had forgotten how tall they are! Its quite a drop when they lower themselves back to the ground. We are very excited to ride camels again on our upcoming trip to Jordan! After our visit with the camels we made our way back to the camp just in time to watch the belly dancing show. The dancer sashayed around the stage amidst the "ooh's" and "ahh's" of the onlookers. Generally speaking, we have found that many Arab parents tend to provide little discipline to their small children, so one often sees the little tykes running around and doing whatever they please. One precocious, doe-eyed toddler felt like grooving and decided to join the belly dancer on stage. She was too cute and totally stole the show, especially when she tried to wiggle her hips and spin as the belly dancer did. Luckily, the belly dancer found the little girl to be charming, and didn't seem to mind her presence on stage. Midway through the performance Ashley was pulled up on stage to do a little dancing, and Dan was chosen to accompany the dancer during her last performance. It was hilarious! She pulled up Dan's shirt to expose his belly, and encouraged him to mimic all of her serpentine movements. I've never seen as big of a grin as the one on Dan's face when he returned to his seat! We capped off the evening with a scrumptious Arabic buffet, complete with spaghetti for the less adventurous=). Not only was this one of our favorite events since moving to Dubai, but one of the most unique and exciting evenings we have ever experienced. We had such a fantastic time, and hope to be able to entice our family and friends to join us on a safari when they visit=).

New baby=)





Hamdan and some of the other drivers




Notice the angle of the hood of the car!


This would have been a really cool picture if I had just moved the tissue box off the dashboard




Skidding sideways down the dune



Got tickets to the gun show?

Our group with Hamdan

Yipee!!!



Making Lebanese bread


Soooo good!

Ashley getting henna

Shisha



Were those the third or fourth shwaramas of the night??? =)

Santa found someone new to pull his sleigh this year!






Shake it sista'
Dan is such a good sport!
I did my best to keep my picture posting to a minimum, as we had over 600 photos of the evening! Bet it feels as though you were on the safari with us=).